A few posts back, I shared that upon reading of the plans of local Muslims to build a mosque here in St. Joe I was glad to hear the news. I also posted my thoughts on the News-Press site. Well, in the no good deed goes unpunished category, Erin Wisdom, the N-P religion reporter saw my post and asked if she could quote me in an article about local reaction to the forthcoming mosque. I joke about the "no good deed goes unpunished" thing, but I'm actually quite glad Erin interviewed me for the article. I'm also appreciative of her getting the quote right, which is not something I've always experienced with other reporters in the past--here and elsewhere.Here's a link to the article, and below you'll see my quote. Here's hoping Christians and Muslims can live together peacefully here in St. Joe!
Many people may not want to see St. Joseph’s Muslim community and number of mosques grow as Kansas City’s have. But the Rev. Chase Peeples, pastor of First Christian Church in St. Joseph, sees Islam’s presence here as a positive thing, noting that religious diversity is good for a community and that he’s grown as a Christian from having discussions with people of other faiths. He said, too, that in his interactions with Muslims, he’s always been impressed by their devotion to prayer, their hospitality and their respect for others — which is something he wishes all Christians were showing them in return.
“I think Jesus spoke pretty clearly about loving our neighbor, and our neighbor may very well be someone of a different faith,” he added. “In Northwest Missouri, Muslims are so much in the minority they probably have more to fear from Christians than Christians do from them.”
Grace and Peace,
Chase
No comments:
Post a Comment